Category: paint scheme grades

Paint Scheme Grades-March, 9, 2019

By David G. Firestone

Landon Cassill #00 Manscaped Chevy Camaro-It’s a smooth, simple look, with a great color scheme, and that will always earn an A.

Kurt Busch #1 Gear Wrench Chevy Camaro-I like the new design scheme here, and the color scheme works well too. It’s a great scheme, and that earns an A.

Kurt Busch #1 Star Nursery Throwback Chevy Camaro-My only complaint is the forced black spot for the Monster Energy logo. Other than that, this is a really great throwback. A-

Austin Dillon #3 Dow Silastic Silicone Elastomers Chevy Camaro-Same scheme as last year, same A grade.

Daniel Hemric #8 Red Kap Chevy Camaro-Great color scheme here, but the curved stripes are over done. Getting rid of one would work much better. Still, it’s a decent scheme, so I’ll give it a B+.

Daniel Hemric #8 Cessna Chevy Camaro-Great color scheme here, but the cutting edge designs are over done. Getting rid of one would work much better. Still, it’s a decent scheme, so I’ll give it a B+.

Ryan Blaney #12 Menard’s/Pennzoil Ford Mustang-Same scheme as last year, same B- grade.

Clint Bowyer #14 CSU One Cure Ford Mustang-Same scheme as last year, same A grade.

Ricky Stenhouse Jr. #17 Sunny D Ford Mustang-Another example of a new scheme not improving at all. I can’t say this gets worse, but it doesn’t get better. As such, this scheme gets the F the Sunny D scheme got last year.

Corey LaJoie #32 Prospr Parts Ford Mustang-I love a good fade, and this is a great fade, black to red. The stripes work well too. I can’t say anything bad about this scheme, so it gets an A.

Chris Buescher #37 Natural Light Naturdays Chevy Camaro-The color scheme is horrid, and while it does have a fade, the color scheme makes it look awful. I can’t give this scheme anything else but an F.

Darrell Wallace Jr. #43 Transportation Impact Chevy Camaro-Same scheme as last year, same A grade.

BJ McLeod #52 MTEL-ONE Chevy Camaro-The orange doesn’t really add or subtract from the Jacob Companies scheme, so I’ll give it the same B grade that Jacob Companies got.

Joey Gase #66 www.NVDonor.org Toyota Camry-While the side design has a mediocre color scheme, it also has a mediocre color scheme. All things considered, I’ll give it a B-.

Reed Sorenson #77 Chevy Camaro-It’s a smooth, simple look, with a great color scheme, and that will always earn an A.

Tanner Berryhill #97 II:WAVE Toyota Camry-It’s a smooth, simple look, with a great color scheme, and that will always earn an A.

Paint Scheme Grades-March 2, 2019

By David G. Firestone

Landon Cassill #00 StarCom Fiber Chevy Camaro-This new version of the scheme is still bad, but it’s not as bad as it was. That said, it’s awful, so I’ll give it in D+.

Kurt Busch #1 ComSurv Chevy Camaro-Good look, great color scheme, no complaints here. A

Clint Bowyer #14 Haas CNC Ford Mustang-This is a great new look. It’s smooth, and has a great color scheme. This gets an A.

Ross Chastain #15 Rim Ryderz Chevy Camaro-Same scheme as #27, same A- grade.

Kyle Busch #18 Snickers Creamy Toyota Camry-The Snickers brown is a great color, and the creamy motif works very well here. All things considered, this scheme is worth an A.

Paul Menard #21 Menard’s/Moen Ford Mustang-The new Menard’s template is a downgrade. It’s too over done. That said, the Moen look is a decent look. The purple works well here. I’d say this is worth a B+.

Michael McDowell #34 Fr8 Auctions Ford Mustang-This is a major upgrade from the 2018 Fr8 Auctions scheme. There is room for improvement here, I would tone down the designs a bit. It’s still a decent scheme, so I’ll give it a B+.

Chris Buescher #37 Scott Comfort Plus Chevy Camaro-Same scheme as last year, same C- grade.

David Ragan #38 Fireade Ford Mustang-This is a really over designed scheme, but it has a good color scheme. Just because you can design a certain scheme, does not mean you should. C-

Daniel Suarrez #41 Aaris Ford Mustang-The shade of orange works well, the black pairs well with it, the stripe looks good. Nothing wrong with this one! A

Kyle Larson #42 McDonald’s Team Classic Chevy Camaro-The over sized golden arches work very well, and the plain red works very well too. This scheme works very well, and gets an A.

Darrell Wallace Jr. #43 McDonald’s Team Bacon Chevy Camaro-If it was a plain white version of the above scheme, I would give it an A. However, the addition of the red square under the door numbers, and hood look odd, and the roof is just perplexing. It’s not terrible, but it looks odd. I’ll give it a B+.

BJ McLeod #52 Trick Shot Chevy Camaro-It’s an over designed mess, it has a bad color scheme, and the color scheme doesn’t work with the design scheme. F

Garrett Smithley #77 HeroBox, Harrell’s and Precision Turf Chevy Camaro-A smooth look with a great color scheme will always earn an A.

Matt DiBenedetto #95 Procore Chevy Toyota Camry-The toned down design is a major upgrade, and I do like the motif on the sides. It’s still somewhat over designed, but it’s a good scheme, so I’ll give it a B+.

Parker Kligerman #96 Gaunt Brothers Racing Toyota Camry-Same scheme as last year, same A grade.

Paint Scheme Grades-February 23, 2019

By David G. Firestone.

Brad Keselowski #2 Auto Trader Ford Mustang-Same scheme as last year, same C grade.

Ryan Blaney #12 Menard’s/Peak Ford Mustang-As with the Knauff scheme, this is a downgrade from last year, but it’s still a decent look, albeit a tad over designed. I’ll give it a B+.

Ryan Blaney #12 Money Lion Ford Mustang-The Penske template is finicky as a template. Not every color scheme works well. In this case, it’s not great, but not terrible, it’s middle of the road. As such, I’ll give it a C.

Ryan Blaney #12 Body Armor Ford Mustang-Same scheme as last year, same B+ grade.

Clint Bowyer #14 DeKalb Ford Mustang Fusion-Same scheme as last year, same A grade.

Ross Chastain #15 Chevy Camaro-Same scheme as last year, same A grade.

Casey Mears #27 Rim Ryderz Chevy Camaro-My only complaint is that I don’t like the stripes at the front. Still, it’s a solid design, so I’ll give it an A-.

Tyler Reddick #31 Symbicort Chevy Camaro-Another instance of a new scheme neither improving, nor going backward. It’s a C- scheme, just a different C- scheme from last year.

Matt Tift #36 Surface Sunscreen Ford Mustang-The overall color is decent, not great. I think the sublimated designs, and the faces on the bottom are over done. It’s a decent look, but there is a lot of room for improvement. All things considered, this scheme gets a B+.

David Ragan #38 Citgard Ford Mustang-The color scheme is great, but I think that the design is over done. Stripes can work well, these stripes need improvement. Still, it’s not terrible, so I’ll give it a B+.

Jamie McMurray #40 McDonald’s/Cessna Chevy Camaro-Same scheme as last year, same A grade.

Brendan Gaughan #62 Beard Oil/South Point Chevy Camaro-Same scheme as last year, same A grade.

Joey Gase #66 AgriSupply Toyota Camry-Take a decent concept, add too many colors, and too many stripes, and you have an A scheme taken down to a C scheme.

Parker Kligerman #96 Toyota: Proud Sponsor of Team USA Toyota Camry-Great look, great color scheme, nice design scheme, this gets an A.

Paint Scheme Grades-February 16, 2019

By David G. Firestone

Brad Keselowski #2 Discount Tire Ford Mustang-Same scheme as last year, same A grade.

Kevin Harvick #4 Busch Beer Car 2 Can Ford Mustang-The black carbon fiber looks great, and the car isn’t over designed. It’s a great look, and this scheme earns an A.

Ryan Newman #6 Wyndham Rewards Ford Mustang-Removing the clouds would work if they hadn’t added the stripes. This could have been so much better, but the over designed stripes take it from an A to a B+.

Ryan Newman #6 Performance Plus Motor Oil Ford Mustang-Same scheme as last year, same B- grade.

Ryan Newman #6 Acorns Ford Mustang-I could stand this scheme if the door numbers were white. The green and white works very well here. The pinkish-blue door and roof numbers clash with the rest of the scheme. It’s such a bad look, that if the door numbers were plain white, I would give this an A. The end result is this scheme gets a C-

Chase Elliott #9 Mountain Dew/Team Rubicon Chevy Camaro-Camo doesn’t add to many schemes, but this scheme is so much worse. Metallic gold and camo is not a good look. The rest of the scheme is good, but the camo takes an A scheme down to a B+.

Aric Almirola #10 Smithfield Prime Fresh Ford Mustang-Another example of two different design elements which would be amazing by themselves, but look forced and awkward together. The white would work, the green would work, they don’t work well together. Still, it isn’t horrible, so I’ll give it a B+.

Clint Bowyer #14 Mobil 1 Ford Fusion-The black with subtle red flames is an amazingly bold look, that isn’t over designed. It looks great and earns an A.

Ricky Stenhouse Jr. #17 Little Hug Fruit Barrels Ford Mustang-Same scheme as last year, same F grade.

Kyle Busch #18 Skittles Patriotic Toyota Camry-Same scheme as last year, same A grade.

Erik Jones #20 SportClips Toyota Camry-The smartphone motif is decent, because it covers the stripes. It’s still not a great scheme, but it is an improvement, so I’ll give it a C.

Joey Logano #22 Shell/Pennzoil Ford Mustang-Same scheme as last year, same D grade.

Corey LaJoie #32 Old Spice Ford Mustang-When it comes to paint schemes, I am very rarely at a total loss for words, but when I first saw this, I was shocked. Even with some of the worst schemes, I get what they were going for. Here, I have no idea what’s going on. Why would LaJoie put his own face on the front of his car? Why? I can only hope his face gets wrecked in the race. F

Michael McDowell #34 Love’s Truck Stops Ford Mustang-Same scheme as last year, same A grade.

Matt Tifft #36 Speedco Ford Mustang-Same scheme as last year, same A grade.

David Ragan #38 Select Blinds Ford Mustang-Decent color scheme, could be darkened a bit. Decent design scheme, could be toned down a bit. Together, they are a decent look combined, so I’ll give it a B.

Darrell Wallace Jr. #43 Aftershokz Chevy Camaro-Its a bold look, the color scheme is great, and the look isn’t over designed, so I’l give it an A.

BJ McCleod #51 Jacob Companies Chevy Camaro-Great color scheme, but the design scheme is over designed, but not too over designed. All things considered, I’ll give it a B.

Cody Ware #52 Winn-Dixie Chevy Camaro-Same scheme as last year, same A grade.

Paint Scheme Grades-February 9, 2019

By David G. Firestone

Landon Cassill #00 Permatex Chevy Camaro-The shades of orange and blue work well, but I think that there are too many white stripes. It’s not that bad, but they do take an A scheme to an A-.

Chase Elliott #9 Hooters Chevy Camaro-Cleaning up the sides does help a bit, but it’s still a mediocre scheme. Still, it is an improvement, so I’ll give it a B.

Chase Elliott #9 Kelly Blue Book Chevy Camaro-Another example of a new scheme not improving, but also not making it worse. This scheme is getting the same B- that last year’s scheme did.

Ryan Blaney #12 Menard’s/Knauf Ford Mustang-Last year’s Menard’s template was great. If this is the new Menard’s template, I’m not impressed. The blue front, and stripes are a downgrade. That said, it’s still a decent scheme, so I’ll give it a B+.

Kyle Busch #18 M&M’s Chocolate Bar Toyota Camry-The chocolate bar motif could work, but this is just too cluttered to be great. It’s a decent scheme though, so I’ll give it a B-.

Martin Truex Jr. #19 Auto Owner’s Insurance Toyota Camry-I could get behind the cutting edge look, and I could get behind the plain black look, if they were separate. Together, this scheme looks like two different people designed one half of the car. These schemes NEVER look great. It’s not terrible, so I’ll give it a B+, all things considered.

Paul Menard #21 Motorcraft Ford Mustang-Same scheme as last year, same A grade.

Joey Logano #22 Pennzoil Ford Mustang-Same scheme as last year, same A grade.

Ryan Truex #71 Accell Construction Chevy Camaro-Same scheme as 2017, same A grade.

Paint Scheme Grades-February 2, 2019

By David G. Firestone

Denny Hamlin #11 FedEx Toyota Camry-White could work here, but there is a bit too much blue and orange for it to work effectively. The designs are a bit much, but not too over done. This new scheme is not an improvement, nor is it worse, so I’ll give it the same B+ grade that the last scheme got.

Chris Buescher #37 Kleenex Wet Wipes Chevy Camaro-Same scheme as last year, same B+ grade.

Jamie McMurray #40 Advent Health Chevy Camaro-Too many bad colors, check. Colors that don’t work together, check. Pointlessly over designed, check. F grade, check.

Daniel Suarez #41 Haas Automotion Ford Mustang-Red with a fade to black works. Red with a fade to black, gray and dark gray camouflage doesn’t work. Camouflage doesn’t work on race cars. It never has, and it never will. This change is so bad, it take s an A scheme down to an F.

Darrell Wallace Jr. #43 Plan B Sales Chevy Camaro-Plan B Sales seems to enjoy bad schemes, so much so that they outsourced their new #43 design to an independent designer by way of a Twitter contest. This result is a pointlessly over designed mess, that has way too much going on. Not even a good color scheme can save this. F

Ryan Preece #47 Kroger Chevy Camaro-The patriotic design works well, and the color scheme is great, so I’m going to give this an A.

Matt DiBenedetto #95 Dumont Jets Toyota Camry-Cleaning up the side design a bit doesn’t really make any change warranting the changing of the grade. As such, I will give this the same B- it got last year.

Paint Scheme Grades-January 26, 2019

By David G. Firestone

Daniel Hemric #8 ALSCO Chevy Camaro-White and light green can work quite well, when there is a decent amount of dark green added. In this case, there needs to be more dark green. It’s not terrible, but there needs to be more dark green. All things considered, I give it a B.

Kyle Busch #18 M&M’s Toyota Camry-Same scheme as last year, same A grade.

Kyle Busch #18 Interstate Batteries Toyota Camry-Same scheme as last year, same F grade.

Martin Truex Jr. #19 Bass Pro Shops Toyota Camry-Same scheme as last year, same C- grade.

Erik Jones #20 DeWalt Toyota Camry-Same scheme as last year, same A grade.

Jamie McMurray #40 McDonald’s/Cessna Chevy Camaro-I loved the McDonald’s/Cessna scheme from last year, and this toned down version is even better! This is a great scheme, and I can’t give this anything less than an A.

Kyle Larson #42 Credit One Chevy Camaro–It’s a re-imagining of a great scheme, and the results look quite good, and I give it an A

Paint Scheme Grades-January 19, 2019

By David G. Firestone

Austin Dillon #3 American Ethanol Chevy Camaro-Getting rid of the black is a great move, and the new design works well with the color scheme. All things considered, this gets an A.

Ryan Newman #6 Oscar Meyer Ford Fusion-The color scheme works well, and the hot dog motif works well with the color scheme. I’ll give this an A.

Daniel Hemric #8 Bass Pro Shops/Tracker Boats Chevy Camaro-The new design scheme is decent, though I think it is over done. The color scheme is decent, though it does work with the design scheme. It’s not great, but it’s decent, so it gets a B.

Ty Dillon #13 Twisted Tea Chevy Camaro-Same scheme as last year, same A grade.

Erik Jones #20 Craftsman Toyota Camry-Same scheme as last year, same A grade.

Jimmie Johnson #48 Ally Financial Chevy Camaro-I like the designs on the wheel well, and the overall design is great, and not over designed. Add in a great color scheme, and you have an A scheme.

Paint Scheme Grades-January 5, 2019

By David G. Firestone

Landon Cassill #00 StarCom Fiber Chevy Camaro-The new stripe design doesn’t work here, even with a great color scheme. The cluttered design doesn’t look good, and earns a D+.

Kurt Busch #1 Monster Energy Chevy Camaro-Same scheme as last year, same A grade.

Brad Keselowski #2 Miller Lite Ford Mustang-Same scheme as last year, same A grade.

Austin Dillon #3 Dow Chevy Camaro-Get rid of the silver, and this would be a solid A scheme, but with the silver, this scheme gets a B+.

Austin Dillon #3 Dow Gold Chevy Camaro-Metallic gold and black is a great color scheme, and the overall design is great. I can’t say anything bad about this scheme, so I won’t. A

Austin Dillon #3 AAA Chevy Camaro-Same scheme as last year, same A grade.

Kevin Harvick #4 Jimmy Johns Ford Mustang-The new stripes are visually distracting, but aren’t as bad as they could be. It’s not a bad scheme, just a step down from last year’s scheme. A-

Kevin Harvick #4 Mobil 1 Ford Fusion-Black with gray flames is a great look. A

Kevin Harvick #4 Hunt Brothers Pizza Ford Mustang-A good look with a great color scheme will always earn an A.

Kevin Harvick #4 Busch Light Ford Mustang-Same scheme as last year, same A grade.

Daniel Hemric #8 Bass Pro Shops/CAT Gold Chevy Camaro-Same scheme as #3, same A grade.

Daniel Hemric #8 Liberty National Chevy Camaro-This new toned down scheme is so much better than the overly cluttered design used last year. This is a great design. Add in a good shade of yellow to boot, and you have a great scheme all around. A

Daniel Hemric #8 Caterpillar Chevy Camaro-This scheme is an improvement on the Mini Excavators scheme used last year, and I like this scheme a lot. It has a great design, and a great color scheme, and that will always earn an A.

Chase Elliott #9 NAPA Chevy Camaro-Same scheme as last year, same B+ grade.

Chase Elliott #9 Mountain Dew Chevy Camaro-Same scheme as last year, same A grade.

Aric Almirola #10 Smithfield Foods Ford Mustang–New scheme for 2019, slash patterns have been expanded. A

Ryan Blaney #12 PPG Ford Mustang-Same scheme as last year, same A grade.

Clint Bowyer #14 Rush’s Truck Stops Ford Mustang-Same scheme as last year, same A grade.

Ricky Stenhouse Jr. #17 Fifth-Third Bank Ford Mustang-Same scheme as last year, same B- grade.

Ricky Stenhouse Jr. #17 Fastenal Ford Mustang-When used with the right color scheme, hourglass designs can work well, this isn’t the right color scheme. It’s not horrible, but this isn’t great. I’ll give it a B-.

William Byron #24 Axalta Chevy Camaro-Same scheme as last year, same A grade.

William Byron #24 UniFirst Chevy Camaro-Same scheme as last year, same B- grade.

William Byron #24 Liberty University Chevy Camaro-Same scheme as last year, same A grade.

William Byron #24 Hertz Chevy Camaro-Same scheme as last year, same A grade.

Corey Lajoie #32 Keen Parts/Corvette Parts Ford Mustang-Keen Parts had a great design last year, but this new design is over done. Add in the pointless addition of black, and an A scheme got take down to a B-.

Corey LaJoie #32 Schluter Systems Ford Mustang-This is a great shade of orange, and the black designs work very well. It’s a great look. A

Darrell Wallace Jr. #43 Air Force Chevy Camaro-Same scheme as last year, same A grade.

Alex Bowman #88 Valvoline Chevy Camaro-Same scheme as last year, same A grade.

Alex Bowman #88 Nationwide Chevy Camaro-This new scheme is a smooth, simple look, and it has a great color scheme. This gets an A.

Matt DiBenedetto #95 Procore Chevy Toyota Camry-Same scheme as last year, same F grade.

The Final Paint Scheme Grades Of 2018-November 24, 2018

By David G. Firestone

Landon Cassill#00 Local Knowledge Mahi Chevy Camaro-The mahi is an amazing looking fish, but it does NOT translate well to the side of a race car. The car is over designed, and it looks like a mess.

DJ Kennington #7 APC Chevy Camaro-The front was changed from blue to red, which neither adds nor subtracts from the overall look of the car. As such, B-

Martin Truex Jr. #78 Bass Pro Shops Toyota Camry-It’s a smooth look with a great color scheme, and that will always earn an A.

Tanner Berryhill #97 Brand South Africa/Vroom! Brands Toyota Camry-It’s a smooth look with a great color scheme, and that will always earn an A.

Kyle Weatherman #99 International Marine Marlin Chevy Chevy Camaro-While the marlin is much better than a mahi as the motif for a race car, it’s still over designed. The color scheme is better, as is the design as compared to the #00, but it’s still not great. All things considered, I give it a C